


Tent City

by badlandsdun



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Kinda, Lots of teen angst, M/M, homeless, this is a mess, tyler is an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-19 09:51:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7356217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badlandsdun/pseuds/badlandsdun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler's family loses their home and has to move into their town's well known tent city. Josh lives there too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> aaa this is a mess im sorry !! i would love feedback+ will post more soon (also this is p much a prologue?the other chapters will be longer)

If there was anything Tyler was sure of, it was that life is weird. It’s constantly changing, never staying the same. The tiniest thing could impact your life in a big way. Tyler hated the thought of his life changing the tiniest bit, and tried his best to avoid change. But sometimes you can’t avoid change.   
It all started with his parents whispering during dinner. Their hushed whispers were joined with his parents hands holding onto their silverware with white knuckles, and clenched teeth. The whispers would turn into fights in the kitchen, his parents slamming pots around as their voices echoed through the room, which Tyler tried his hardest to ignore. That would end in awkward silence and red faces in the living room. This was just the beginning.   
The weeks before winter break blurred together, and Tyler quickly forgot about these nights. Until two weeks before Christmas when his parents called him into the living room for a “family meeting”.   
Tyler hated those. They usually meant bad news, and in this instance he was right.   
There sat his two parents, perched on the arm of their nice couch, the one his mother loved (the fabric on the couch was a pale cream color, littered with pale lavender flowers). His father’s face was red and stern, his mother’s soft, almost sorry.   
That’s when he knew it was something bad. His mother patted the area in the middle of the couch, motioning for Tyler to sit. His Father sighed, silent. Tyler sits and closes his eyes, wishing, wishing he could be somewhere else. Anywhere but here. He kept his eyes glued shut, as if that would change his situation.   
It wouldn’t.  
After a few moments of silence he speaks up.   
“How do I tell you this? Back in October-“  
“Tyler, honey, I’m so sorry. Your father lost his job a few months ago and we’re broke.” His mom interrupts. “We didn’t know how to tell you, and I’m sorry.”  
Tyler’s eyes burst open suddenly.   
Was there really a nice way to tell your son that? Probably not. There never would be a better way to put it, or to break the news. There wouldn’t be a worse way either really. It is what it is.   
“How broke?” Tyler asks warily. It’s not as if he was spoiled, or needed a ton of money. But he needed to know how bad it was.   
“It’s bad.” His dad says, standing up. Tyler doesn’t know how it was possible, but his face seemed even more red than before. He doesn’t answer Tyler’s question directly either.   
His parents explained it to him. The car part factory where his dad worked at was out of money. They started to lay people off, even the second shift production manager. Which was his dad. It had been two months since he had lost his job. He was trying to find a new job. His mother was trying to find a job. They had had no luck.   
On Christmas Tyler’s parents had the rest of his family over, his grandparents, his cousins, his aunts and uncles. They all laughed as if everything was okay, and Tyler tried to ignore the fact that his present pile had been considerably smaller than the year before. And the year before that.   
The months go by, and before Tyler knows it he’s done with his junior year in High School.   
The day school is over, his friends invite Tyler out to get dinner with them. He said no (“Tyler are you okay?” His friend, Cass , had asked, her eyebrows furrowing with worry. Tyler didn’t usually say no to these kind of things. “Yeah, just don’t feel well,” Tyler lies. He felt fine, he just didn’t want to say he didn’t want to ask his parents for money, when he knew they had none. He didn’t want to say his dad had lost his job at all. He wanted to pretend things were okay).  
June is almost over when he knows things are getting worse.   
“Jobs are hard to get,” His father insisted when asked about it. Things started to change. Tyler tried to pretend he didn’t notice when his mother’s favorite couch was gone, or when he would see the stacks of unpaid bills on the coffee table.   
They told him the news July 6th.   
They had to move out. And had nowhere to go.   
“So we’re essentially homeless?” Tyler asked, shutting his eyes tightly again. He balls up his fists at his side, trying not to cry. Never in his life had he thought this would happen. His parents losing the home he had grown up in? Being homeless? It just didn’t seem realistic, at least not at this time last year.   
“No, we have a place to stay,” His father says slowly, not looking up from his calloused hands.   
It’s quiet as Tyler waits for his dad to tell him where.   
“You know that one area by the camp grounds, you know the-“

“The tent city? Where all of the homeless people go?” Tyler asks, confirming his fears. He had heard about that place. About the people that lived there. And it wasn’t great things.   
His mother steps up, lying a hand on his slender shoulder. “It’s better than a shelter. It’s just until we get back on our feet. ”  
And just like that, Tyler’s life had changed drastically.


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually read about a tent city once in school and idk i just thhought about it when i was thinking abt story ideas??? i hope u like this <3

Going from a furnished and functional house to a tent was a big step down, Tyler thinks as he looks the tent over. Even though, he reminds himself, near the end it wasn’t even fully furnished. As the days went by and the end drew near, his mother would slowly sell the belongings that were worth something, such as furniture, which they couldn’t take with them and didn’t have the money to put into storage. And the tent wasn’t that bad either. It was a nice tent, as far as tents go. Large and roomy, the rough plasticy fabric the color maroon. It was big too. Overall, a nice tent. But a tent nonetheless.   
Tyler looks it over, his head spinning. He was pretty much homeless. He couldn’t believe it had come to this. He wishes he could help out in some way, or get a job. But all he could get was some shitty part time job, and that wouldn’t help them get a house or pay the bills.   
Tyler was just happy it was warm outside. He didn’t want to think about what him, or the hundreds of other people living here, would do if it was cold. If it was Fall, or Winter.   
Tyler can hear his parents rummaging around inside of the tent, setting up the beds, and he doesn’t want to go in. He doesn’t want to look. He still doesn’t want to believe that this is all real.   
Tyler hoped his friends wouldn’t find out.  
Earlier, a man named Robin had walked Tyler and his family in. Robin explained to them that, first off, they had to behave while they were here. “The city already doesn’t want us living here, so we need to be on our best behavior” he said. Then he explained how things worked. There was a bathroom and showers block a little to the right of their tent, you just needed to follow the trail. There was a common area, under the pavilion, where community dinners were held. It was basically just like a regular campground. Where you went to live when you had nowhere else.   
Everyone else there was staying there until they “got back on their feet”. Those were the exact same words his dad had used, and it’s been months and he’s still not back on his feet. Tyler wondered if it would ever actually happen.  
His parents come out of the tent then, pleased with their work. Tyler doesn’t move from the spot he’s sitting on, even though his legs are starting to go numb from being crossed for so long. He wonders where and if he’ll be able to charge his phone.   
“Tyler, are you okay?” His mother asks. His dad? Silent, as usual.   
“I’m great!” He says, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Why would he be okay?  
His mother reminds him, once again, that this is only temporary. That it’s going to be okay. That his dad is going out (for the hundredth time, each time with no more luck than the time before) to look for a job tomorrow. That she’ll be looking for a job soon. Tyler, once again, tells her it’s okay. That he’s okay. That he doesn’t mind, and that he isn’t mad. Tyler tells her he isn’t upset even though he is. Who wouldn’t be?  
He missed his bed.  
It was then when his parents deemed it time to go down to the pavilion. (“Why do we have to go there to eat, can’t we just go get subway or something?” Tyler had asked, fear bubbling up inside of him. He didn’t want to go to the pavilion with other people. He didn’t want to be seen by other people. “Because, silly, we need to get acquainted with other people here. You don’t want to be a loner the whole time we’re here, right? Might as well make the most of it.” But Tyler really, really, didn’t mind being a loner. )  
The walk to the pavilion was a long one and Tyler couldn’t help but feel eyes on his back as he walked past. They walked down, down past the bathrooms, past the murky lake, and then they reached their destination. He could smell freshly cooked meat, and noted the grills that sat around the cement floor. There were multiple people manning the grills, shouting out things that Tyler couldn’t make out.   
His parents get there and start introducing them to people. Robin is there, standing next to a girl with short hair that looked to be about Tyler’s age. Before Tyler had gotten there, she had been waving her arms around erratically as she talked. She smiled at Tyler as his parents talked to Robin.   
He wanted to disappear.  
“Tonight is barbecue night,” Robin smiles at Tyler, as he tells him what they’re eating that night. Tyler hates it. He has eyes, he can see what they’re making. He can’t help but feel as if Robin was talking to him like a child.   
Suddenly, someone yells , and Tyler’s eyes scan the room to find the source of the sound. At one of the grills in the corner, by a picnic table, is a guy with bright red hair. He looks to be about the same age as Tyler and the other girl, and he’s attempting to grill something. He’s failing, and while doing so, setting the food items on fire.  
“Who let Josh use a grill?” The girl asks, rushing over to the teen.   
“I’m so sorry about that,” Robin tells Tyler’s parents before sprinting away. “We didn’t have enough people and he offered to !” He then tells the girl.   
Tyler, for some reason, cannot keep his eyes off the guy. He cannot focus on the commotion, and instead thinks about “Josh”.   
Josh’s face is scrunched up as he pulls the hot dogs off the grill, trying to save them from the fire. The girl is by his side, a fire extinguisher in hand. Just in case. Robin is saying something to the two, most likely yelling at them. Tyler can’t make out what he’s saying but can tell he’s being ignored.   
Somehow, while all of this is happening, Josh finds the time to look up. And his eyes make contact with Tyler’s. Josh grins, and then as quickly as he had looked up, his eyes are somewhere else again.


End file.
